Far be it for me to complain about the latest Kato N scale f units. Actually I think they are very good. Since I began N scale (Rapido Aurora Trix) the F units have seen dramatic improvements and Kato has really led the way with their first F unit offering in the late 1980's. It seems they improve the Fs each time the produce it. The latest is no exception. They have changed the couplers and the way they fit in the draft box. Although Kato made the MT's coupler conversion obsolete. It really didn't bother me. The MT's coupled too far apart anyway. What I want is the proper 3 scale foot spacing between units. The stock Kato couplers are spaced about 5 to 6 feet apart. One of my questions is, are their any coupler conversions out that acheive a shorter distance between the late model Kato F units? 2 weeks ago I contacted micro trains and posed the question to them. Their customer service department could not answer the question. However they did take my name and told me they would have some one who knows contact me. I am still waiting and when I get a response I will add it to this thread but in the mean time I would appreciate any feed back on the subject. Also maybe their are some Z scale couplers that shorten the distance. JoeW.
Accumate short shank couplers have very good spacing. They are dummy couplers so will not uncouple over the ramps. I have not tried a Kato conversion but have done all my Intermountain and Life Like units. they look so much better.
I'm just curious, couldn't you just cut a small length out of the shank and ACC it back together?? seems to me that would work...but, I could be wrong....and probably am...LOL...or, how about a drawbar??
Use the short shank Unimates, as Pete Steinmetz suggested. Somewhere, I have some photos of how to install these... post back here if interested in seeing them.
Me too; me too!! Here is Sizemore's tutorial on that issue. I try to use these Unimates on the rear (usually long hood) of all my diesels. Since I always try to MU at least two units, the Unimates eliminate uncoupling. It takes some grinding and cutting on the coupler shanks to fit into the Micro Trains 1015 coupler pocket. Just my technique for this.
I also use the Unimates couplers between my F units. The close coupling along with the elimination of unwanted disconnects in my ABBA lashups are great advantages. The earlier Kato F units had truck mounted couplers and were a lot easier to modify using the "T" shank Unimates. Same was true of the plastic frame LifeLike units F's and FA/B's. Since both Kato and LifeLike and now IM also use the body mount coupler converting over to the body mount Unimates is not as easy as before.
Unimates or accumates are they the same? Thanks for responding Yesterday morning I tried to install the shortest coupler from a package of assorted length unimate couplers by Red Caboose. I tried cutting and shaping the backside of the coupler in order to get it to fit the stock Kato truck mounted coupler pocket. I can't seem to make it work at least with out modifing the truck. In the thread responses there are references to accumate and unimate which is it or is it both? As I said in the original post this is the latest Kato F unit and it has a very differnt truck than the previous models. I beleive this is the third truck change since Kato first introduced and F unit. Newman recomended that I cut and shorten a coupler for the job. Although this is possible I do believe the couplers are made from a material called Delrin which is an acetal polymer. It is my understanding that acetal polymers are typically very difficult to bond. I would like to try and find a different sollution. By the way I also have a set of the Intermountain f units that I plan to convert over to the unimates. They have a body mount so it should be straight foward application but I am still stumped on this new Kato. I look forward to more feedback. JoeW
Unimates and Accumates not the same Accumates are Atlas couplers, I think, and are operational similar to MT couplers. The latest Kato F's I have are WP F3's and Santa Fe F7's, both of which have truck mounted coupler pockets. I have Unimates in both with no alteration other than slightly rounding one corner of the square end of the coupler that fits into the coupler pocket. Rounding one corner is not absolutely necessary but makes it easier to turn the coupler end into the pocket. Ben
Hmmm, JoeW, I don't know if the new Kato F units have changed anything about the truck-mounted rear coupler mountings. I just checked my recent SP Black Widow Kato F3s vs. 1997-era Kato F7 Santa Fe's, and to me, the truck-mounted rear coupler area looks the same. Here's some pictures of how I did the Unimate installation, this on Kato F's, E's, and PA's: kato_n_scale_unimate_install Photo Gallery by ATSF_Arizona John Sing at pbase.com And here's some samples from the above step-by-step: Hope this helps!
The original and I think possibly a subsequent run of the Kato F 7's came with a Rapido coupler which was the then N gauge strandard coupler. This coupler had the familiar "T" shaped shank. Unimate couplers were designed to replace this coupler and so had a "T" shaped shank also. Unimate also had a body mount coupler that featured a staight shank with two holes in it. Kato came out with a later run of F7's and not only eliminated the truck mounted coupler but redesigned the engine so that the old trucks would not fit the new mechanism. I do not have any of the newest F units from Kato so I don't know if they went back to a truck mounted coupler or not.
I have installed short shank unimates on the most recent Kato F7s and F3s so the trucks will receive them. If you do not trim the corners as shown by John Sing, it is a hassle but they will fit in with a little "english." Trimming the 2 opposite corners a la John Sing should make it much easier!
AFAIK no Kato F units have ever had body mounted rear couplers. All mine have truck mounted couplers replaced with Unimates. This would be another good job for a short, T-shanked McHenry coupler if McHenry/Athearn ever decide to make seperate couplers.
No kidding! I still have scar tissue on my finger tips. How does that guy think of these things? :thumbs_up:
Unimate was purchased by Red Caboose back before the dawn of time. Accumates are no relation to Unimates. As far as the KATO F-7's go John Sing's tutorial is on the money for both early and late Kato F-7's. I'm currently an avid IM F-7 user now since they took the work out of custom painting F-7's for me, however I am confident that the same technique will work in the DCC ready generation of F-7's available now. The S
In an overabundance of caution, I would like to mention that the Micro Trains coupler conversion for this engine requires the removal of this 'stub' of plastic that John Sing has pointed out above. If you convert to Micro Trains, you cannot go back to this Unimate close-couple conversion as this 'stub' of plastic will have been removed. You can replace the trucks to reverse the process.
Well, I stand corrected. I just checked all of my Kato F7's and indeed they all have truck mounted couplers. And all are equipped with the short shank Unimates on both ends of the B units and the rear of the A units. It was the split frame Life Like FA/B1's which had the body mount couplers. The older plastic frame FA/B2's had truck mounted couplers.
Flash, everything in my little tutorial, I was taught by local N scalers here in the Bay Area and on the Internet Forums All I did was follow their lead, learn how to do it myself.... and then, thxs to this thread, got my act together finally and posted those photos which I made more than 2 years ago, to *remind myself of what I did* (as it's easy to forget these things when one hasn't done it in a while)! So, the thanks is due to everyone here who shares information like this with everyone else.
Flash, excellent point, you're exactly right, thx for adding that. BTW, I might add that my personal reason for using short shank Unimates, instead of the Micro-Trains, is that I get a much closer coupling distance with the short shank Unimates, than I would get with the Micro-Trains conversion. You can choose as you wish, I prioritized on the close-coupling distance.
